GoodBye, Father
by Sabu.d
Summary: OneShot. A sad little fic I wrote a while ago while depressed. Since Bulma's death, Vegeta's gone insane, leaving his children helpless. Trunks reflects on how it all happened.


**I was looking for another one of my stories on the computer to work on, and I randomly found this one. (there all under different titles) Thought I should post it.****  
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**Disclaimer: no ownership.**

**Another one shot. Came into my head randomly. Actually, I'm not even sure if it's a one shot. We shall soon find out, ne?**

**Good-Bye, Father**

Trunks walked into the living room. The scene before him was not new. It had been normal for a while now. Vegeta stood, in the middle of the room, eyes shifting, looking around for something no one could see. He was tense, prepared, and waiting. No one knew what for, but most people would look around as well in paranoia. And that's exactly what it was; the rantings of a paranoid man.

"Quiet boy. They'll hear you." He said to his son. The 38-year-old absently wondered if Vegeta even knew he was his son anymore. Perhaps he had lost more than they thought.

It had started soon after Bulma died. No one knew anything was wrong until Trunks and Bra went to visit their father to make sure he was ok.

First, he had nearly attacked them, not really sure of who they were for a moment. Then, he mistook Bra for her mother, and starting raving about how he knew she wasn't dead. Trunks managed to calm him down, and tell him the truth; something Bra couldn't bear to do. She couldn't stand to see his face when he learned, again, that his wife was dead.

After that, things went back to normal. Vegeta seemed to have recovered from his lapse in sanity, and buried himself in his training. But the descent into insanity was still going on, very subtly.

They only excuse the doctors could give was that for a man who spent his whole life at war, the peace was literally driving him nuts.

Trunks had argued with them, saying that there had been peace before, and he never acted like this. The doctors reminded him that Bulma was there, as well as Bra and Trunks, himself. It appeared his family was what kept him, dare I say, normal.

But Bra and Trunks had long since moved out, leaving Bulma to single handedly keep the Prince from losing his mind; something she seemed to have excelled at. But then she left as well, taking with her all shreds of her husband's sense.

In a last ditch attempt, Trunks moved back home, hoping he could repair the damage done. But it was too late. Far too late.

"Dad, no one's here." He spoke slowly, hoping to not enrage the man. People who thought Vegeta was scary when angry would die of fright seeing him crazed and angry; something Trunks experienced at least once a week.

"That's what they want you to think." Vegeta eyed him, as though wondering if this was truly a harmless man before him, or if it was one of 'them' in disguise.

"Dad…"Trunks started, not knowing what to say."

"Shush!" Vegeta snapped. Trunks just stared at him, eyes filled with worry. "They want you to think what you do. That's why you will be the first to fall."

Trunks couldn't help but sigh. Even when insane, his father was still putting him down.

"They'll get you. Just like they got…her…" Vegeta trailed off, his eyes glazed over, and he became lost in his memories.

Trunks only sighed again. This was another one of his paranoid thoughts. He believed Bulma had been killed. Trunks, unable to fully admit that his father was insane, did some tests on the body, to see if anything was wrong.

Nothing was. He did every test he could think of, and even attempted to ask Vegeta what he though 'they' did to her. He received no answer.

He couldn't do this alone. Some days he just wanted to curl up into a little ball and cry. He hated seeing his father like this. He didn't want his last memories of his dad to be of him ranting mindlessly.

But then, he really wasn't doing it by himself. Bra hardly came to the house anymore, tired of constantly having to tell her father that she wasn't her mother; having to witness the painful disappointment on his face. She wasn't where Trunks was getting the help from. We have to remember, Vegeta has never been one to go down without a fight.

There were times, brief moments, were Vegeta would know where he was, and what was happening. But they were few and far between. But still, sometimes, when Vegeta was ranting, or angry, or terrified, you could see the Great Prince fighting in his eyes; fighting to regain his mind.

Yes, Vegeta had times where he was terrified. Trunks would often walk in on him, in bed, hiding under the covers, muttering things to himself as a child afraid of monsters in closet would. Seeing him like this made Trunks want to do the same.

Vegeta opened his eyes from his memories, and looked around him for a moment. His eyes landed of Trunks, watching him warily.

"Who are you?" he asked suddenly. It was all Trunks could do to stop himself from crying. He knew Vegeta couldn't remember him at all. He would talk to him, trusting him on some degree, but he didn't remember him.

"I'm…" Trunks started, not knowing how to finish, but he was interrupted anyway.

"YOU! I know you! You're that kid! The one that killed Frieza! The one who isn't a Saiyan!"

Trunks gave a small laugh. Ironic. Vegeta remembered Mirai Trunks, but not him.

"Where's Bulma?" Vegeta asked suddenly, a great pain in his eyes.

Trunks looked away.

"I have to go see her. Do you know why?" He asked, like a little kid who had just learned some great secret. "She told me yesterday that she's pregnant. With MY child. I'm going to be a father."

He had this great smile on his face. Continuing with the analogy, he looked like that secret was that he was going to spend the day in a candy story, with unlimited amounts of money.

Trunks knew what was going on. In Vegeta's mind, he had gone back to moment in his life, and now he was saying the feelings he had locked away at the time out load. Sometimes, the things said made Trunks smile, especially when they were concerning himself, his sister, or his mother.

He waiting, knowing this wasn't all. And it wasn't. Vegeta's eyes glazed over again; another stream of memories. He looked over at Trunks a few moments later, worry in his eyes.

"Where's Trunks? Did he get out in time?"

Trunks only stared at him. What was he talking about?

"What...?"

"Trunks! My son! I had to knock him out! I had to save him from Buu! He's safe, right? If he got hurt, I swear, I'll kill that Namek!"

Trunks felt his smile widen.

"He's fine."

Vegeta nodded. Pleased with the response. He looked away, and a moment later, he looked back at his son.

"Trunks..?" The crazed look left his eye.

"Hey dad." Trunks knew. This was his father. A brief lapse in insanity.

"Trunks…I'm tired…I think I'm going to take a nap." Vegeta had a look of remorse in his eyes, and Trunks could only nod. He saw the hidden meaning.

The doctors had said that eventually, Vegeta would either lose his mind completely, or it would just shut down; his Saiyan instincts, no doubt. Vegeta knew this too. They looked each other, each seeing the gleam of understanding in the other one's eyes. They both knew Vegeta would not awaken from this sleep.

"Good-night, son." He said, walking up the stairs.

Trunks felt the tears fill his eyes.

"Good-bye, father."

**Not that well written, but I am depressed. Enjoy as I project my own sadness on poor, innocent fictional characters from TV shows I watch!  
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